Wouldn't this be such a great job? To live in Lolcat land? :)

I admit it. I am working at taking over the world with Lolcats.

I have been stealthy changing the wallpapers on some of the computers at work. First it was Dr Tinycat on the computer at the nurses station. Then the one in the conference room looking for paramedics. I am just trying to figure out where CPR cat should go.... Maybe on the COW (computer on wheels)....

I'll have what he is having..... :)

I can't remember how I came across her website, but I have been following the ups and downs of Samantha over in England for a while now. Unfortunately after doing well for a while now, things are on a downturn for her.

Head over to her website and give some love to her and her family during this tough time.

It didn't work before... why would it work now?

"Ontario hospitals facing a cash crunch shouldn't expect a bailout from the province, even if that means laying off nurses and closing beds, Health Minister George Smitherman suggested Tuesday."

Yeah, because it really worked well before when the previous government laid off nurses and closed hospital beds.

Really, this "solution" will not help anyone. Hospitals are overflowing. Wait times in the ER are through the roof, which results in paramedics being stuck in the ER unable to offload their patients instead of being on the road. At one point last month, there were no ambulances available on the road to respond to emergencies.

In my opinion, laying off nurses is the last thing that should be done to solve budget problems. Who is going to take care of our patients if there are fewer nurses. Even "fully staffed", the nurses on my unit are tired, snarky, incredibly busy, and burning out. Personally, I would seriously reconsider where I am working and the profession I am working in if staffing levels were to decrease, and I have been working for less than a year.

Hee hee.... that website always makes me laugh. I like picking pictures off icanhascheezburger.com and making them the wallpaper on the shared computers at work. Just to keep things entertaining. :)

So, I'm feeling better than I was the other day. Unfortunately my voice is still away on vacation. In the morning I think that it might be back, but as the day goes on my voice becomes more and more of a whisper.

I have called in sick for tomorrow. I don't think that I would be all that useful if the loudest I can talk is a whisper. I'll lay low tomorrow and see how things go. But really, is laryngitis a good excuse for calling in sick? I feel almost like I am playing hooky by not going to work tomorrow. Would you go in to work if you were feeling ok, but when you talked you sounded like a very quiet frog croaking?

Well, because a die-hard coworker showed up to work on Monday sick (and I mean diagnosed pneumonia after being sent home from work sick) now I am sitting here on my days off miserable, with no voice and in agony when I swallow or cough.

I know that Monday was a Stat holiday, but when you have been sick for most of a week and a bit and are actually now feeling worse instead of better... maybe it is time to suck it up and go to the doctor.

Unfortunately the plans for this bunch of days off were to go visit my parents and some friends from highschool who decided to go visit their parents this same weekend. So, instead of catching up with old friends, I am going to sit on my parent's couch and watch tv (they have cable!) and do laundry. Wow... am I ever exciting.

Bleh

Aaaah, another night shift. That means I am almost done my 2D 2N, and am that much closer to my 5 days off. :)

My unit continues to be insanely heavy lately. The floor has 37 patients. Right now we have 9 patients in isolation, 4 quads, 4 trachs, and one bariatric patient. On top of that, I am not sure how many "total" patients we have... I think 13 or 14. Out of my 7 patients on my night shift tonight I have 3 "totals".

Even though our unit continues to be so heavy, it is still a struggle just to get a health care aide for more than 4 hours in the morning to bathe patients.

I can see that folks here are starting to burn out. Tempers are shorter than usual. Nurses are off sick (one with pneumonia). Patient care is going to suffer (if it isn't already).

You know that things are nutty when floating to a different unit is welcomed, and people tell you that you are lucky that you got to float.

So, I am muddling through. My assignment tonight isn't too bad. 3 walkie-talkies, 1 bedrest, and 3 totals. They are all stable (*knock on wood!*) although 2 need a closer watch as they can de-sat easily and their breathing isn't the best.

I am definitely getting frustrated with how things are run on this unit. The manager tends to hide in her office (when she is even there at all) and doesn't seem to quite understand how things are going on the unit. She is a new, first time manager (started in July) and is focused on keeping within the budget (we must cut down on our use of water cups!). We'll see where this leads.

My other huge frustration right now is that you can never find what you need when you need it. Our clean hold is not properly stocked right now, and things often need to be ordered 2 or 3 times before it is actually delivered. What is on the unit is never put back where it belongs. O2 sat monitors keep disapearing, and I think that we are down to 1 again which everyone ends up fighting over. I feel like I waste a lot of time on my shifts just looking for what I need.

I have been looking into a critical care nursing course which is offered correspondance with one of the colleges in the province. I was thinking of starting it in the fall, but am wondering if I should just jump into the course starting in May... and then I would be that much closer to leaving this unit. The course is over 7 months, so would finish in December.... but would the summer be a good time to be starting such a project? I think I have 2 weeks or so to decide...

Well, I should get back to work.... give some ventolin to some wheezy patients. Whoo hoo.

Until next time....

Oh yeah... I apparently need to learn Arabic and Persian along with french.... ugh